Section 4: Changing Load Zones on County Roads and Bridges

Law Ruling

Texas Transportation Code (§621.301) requires counties to
obtain TxDOT concurrence for proposed county road and bridge load
limits. Counties will petition TxDOT for concurrence with a load
limit by submitting a request to the district engineer. The county’s
request must include an engineer’s evaluation of the proposed change
along with supporting documentation.

The procedure outlined in this section will help expedite
review of county requests that involve emergency or other temporary
situations that pose a risk to the public or potential damage to
a road or bridge. The department is not responsible for monitoring
county compliance with this amendment of the Transportation Code.
Also, a change in a county road limit does not require an approved
Commission Minute Order.

Coordination between County and District

Each district will be responsible for communicating the requirements
of the statute and providing information to the counties. The following
table lists the steps that the district should take when a county
submits a proposed change in load limits to the district engineer.

A county must always obtain
TxDOT concurrence for a proposed change in:

road load limits, or for a proposed road load limit on
a county road built on a new location, if the proposed load limit
is less than the legal load limit permissible under the Texas Transportation
Code.

If the district does not
have the resources or expertise to perform the review, contact CST
for roads and Bridge Division for bridges to assist in evaluating
the proposed change.

4

Provide written concurrence
to the county.

If the submitted documentation
and calculations accord with accepted engineering principles and
practice, the district engineer should provide written concurrence
to the county within 30 calendar days of receiving the complete
request, including all supporting documentation.

If the district engineer does not respond within 30 calendar
days, the county may consider the proposed limit to have TxDOT concurrence.

5

Provide the district pavement
engineer with copies of concurrence correspondence.

If concurrence is given
for changes in:

road load
limits, provide the district pavement engineer with a copy of the
county request, supporting documentation, and district concurrence
letter for record purposes.

bridge load limits, provide the district bridge inspection
office with the new load ratings and a copy of the documentation
for updating the database.

6

Provide written notification
withdrawing concurrence.

The district engineer may
review a changed load limit and withdraw concurrence at any time by
providing written notification to the county.

7

Review request for appeal.

The county may appeal a
decision of the district engineer by submitting a written request
along with the required documentation to the executive director
of TxDOT.

The executive director will review the request to determine
if department concurrence will be granted.

Pavement visual distress condition evaluation, including
an engineering description of the pavement distress type and extent.

Date of the last rehabilitation or reconstruction performed
on the road.

Engineering Analysis - Supporting documentation that has
been sealed by a professional engineer and includes a visual evaluation
of the pavement, a full-depth structural analysis, and calculations supporting
the proposed load limit.

For a surfaced county road comparable to a state FM road
or higher type pavement, an assessment of the pavement and layers
is required within the project limits based on one of the following methods:

Manual field tests using the dynamic
cone penetrometer or similar device;

Laboratory test results;

Deflection analysis based on the falling weight deflectometer
or similar device; or

Other test methods based on accepted engineering practice.

For an unsurfaced county road or a county road constructed
to a lower standard than is typical for the state maintained system:
an assessment of the pavement and subgrade layers is required based
on engineering judgment including a visual inspection.

Supporting documentation that has been sealed by a professional
engineer and includes a structural evaluation report documenting
the condition of the bridge and calculations supporting the proposed limits.
Calculations should include the inventory and operating ratings
for the bridge as defined by the AASHTO Manual for
Condition Evaluation of Bridges, Chapter 6.